Taurine

Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid, though it is not used to build proteins. Your body makes it from cysteine, through the cysteine sulfinic acid pathway. You also get a lot from animal foods, especially shellfish, dark poultry meat, and fish. It is highly concentrated in your heart, skeletal muscle, retina, and neurons. There it works as an osmolyte (a fluid-balance molecule), manages calcium inside cells, steadies the mitochondrial membrane, and eases oxidative and ER (endoplasmic-reticulum) stress. A landmark 2023 paper by Singh et al. in Science made waves. It reported that blood taurine drops sharply with age in mice, monkeys, and humans. And giving normal amounts of taurine extended median lifespan in male and female mice by about 10 to 12%, and improved several health measures in middle-aged monkeys. The proposed mechanisms: less cellular senescence, inflammation, DNA damage, and mitochondrial trouble. In humans, though, the link to longevity is only observational. No trial shows taurine extends human lifespan. And a 2025 NIH-led re-analysis (Marcangeli et al., Aging Cell 2025; with companion work by Fernandez et al., Science 2025) found that blood taurine often rises or holds steady with age in humans, monkeys, and mice. That directly challenges the age-related decline story of Singh 2023. Taurine is in energy drinks and sold as a supplement. At the doses usually studied, it has raised no acute safety alarms in adults, but long-term high-dose human data are limited.

Last reviewed: June 22, 2026

This definition is educational and is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or treatment. Talk to a doctor about any health decisions. Read our full medical disclaimer